A bunch of us from the Oregon Oldtime Fiddlers’ campout took our chances at the Canyonville Fiddle Contest, which I hadn’t attended in almost 18 years. Willie Warwick blames it all on me. He hadn’t been to a fiddle contest in eight years. Not since he moved back to Oregon, even though Canyonville is just up the road a piece and Weiser is at the other end of the state.

Travis and Willie.  (Click on  the image to see a larger photo.)

But I talked him into going. “It’ll be fun!” I promised him. I don’t know if he’s forgiven me yet. At least his six-year-old son, Travis, fared well, placing fourth in the Pee Wee Division in his first contest.

Travis had tough duty, though. He only knew two tunes when he arrived and ended up having to play two rounds, which required six tunes. When told he had to learn more tunes, he just shrugged his shoulders and said, “Ok.”

Margret Brank, who’s day job is teaching music, came to the rescue and taught him enough tunes to get through both rounds. She wrote out the tabulature and his mother, Becky, held it for him while he played.

His dad was in a similar predicament, but he didn’t get much sympathy from Margret, who was playing against him in the Open Division. I’d never seen him so nervous; not even back in the days when he was a contender at Weiser.

The surprise was that he placed as well as he did — fifth. In fact, we had urged him to take the fifth. We figured a little tuning fluid might calm his nerves. Margret finished third in the women-dominated division, Donna Johnson Reuter was the winner. Johny McDonald was second, Eileen Witler was fourth, and Darren Reittan, who played with a mute on, was sixth.

When Willie came off the stage carrying his tiny trophy, Travis was quick to point out that his own trophy was bigger. But dad couldn’t have been happier. He was one proud papa.

Travis also won more money than his dad. When Willie explained this to him, Travis looked up and said with absolute sincerity, “I’ll share it with you, Dad.”

Kenneth and yours truly.  (Click on  the image to see a larger photo.)

I managed to grab second in the Regular Division thanks to the fine Kiwi rhythm provided by Dick Todd, who had come all the way from New Zealand with his wife, Cris. Britt Smith was fourth. I also nabbed a third in the Accompanist Division, playing more bass in that one day than I had in the preceding year. I hadn’t backed up contest-style tunes for a while, but it was a bit like riding a bicycle. I only fell off a few times.

Kenneth Brank, somewhat ironically, scored a fifth in the Senior Division. But when he was handed his trophy, he noticed it said “Pee Wee Division” on it. He pointed this out to the woman awarding the prizes, who explained that there had been a mix-up, but he could have it changed. Brank said, “No, I’ll keep it that way. I’m in my second childhood.”